


so little moves you

by lateralplosion



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Canon Compliant, Future Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:20:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23447665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lateralplosion/pseuds/lateralplosion
Summary: Vernon can't help but snort. "You're usually hard to impress."Minghao gives him back a secretive, knowing smile. "Are you trying to impress me?"
Relationships: Chwe Hansol | Vernon/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Comments: 15
Kudos: 109





	so little moves you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [subduetheaesthete](https://archiveofourown.org/users/subduetheaesthete/gifts).



> for m ♡

It had been Soonyoung's idea.

Soonyoung's idea—which should have surprised no one—and, later on, Seungkwan's. Seungkwan has always liked being in charge of things like this, the challenge of trying to bring them all together from wherever they are in the world, pulling on all of them with invisible strings. But in the end, it had been Sofia who called him.

He'd been in Vienna at the time, ringtone breaking the tranquil morning silence of his small flat. 6:37am, far too early for most of them to tolerate, but Vernon had been awake.

"And to what do I owe this pleasure, baby sister?" Vernon says when he picks up. "Surely, you're calling about your mini? I preordered, by the way."

"You didn't have to do that," Sofia chides, but it's lost under a barely concealed giggle. "You know we already saved you a copy. Signed, too," she adds.

Vernon laughs. "Lucky me. Guess I'll have two copies, then."

"Dork," Sofia says fondly, and Vernon grins. It's good to hear her voice.

"Actually, Soonyoung-oppa asked me to call you," she says, voice taking on a less light-hearted tone. "He wanted me to ask you about May."

Vernon puts the call on speaker, and puts on water for coffee. It's his second cup that morning. "Any reason why he couldn't call me himself?"

"Well—you know—" Vernon can see the face she's making, reddened lips curling down in a slight frown. "They all know you like your space."

If there's one thing he can truly give his members credit for, it was the ease with which they accepted his announcement last year, to take a break from activities. With so many of them now in the military, their promotions had been sporadic at best, anyway. And this was something he'd been wanting to do for himself for years now—the chance to spend time alone, away from the world he'd been brought up in, the world he would always intensely love but needed, sometimes, to hold away from him at arm's length.

Vernon smiles, even though he knows she can't see it. "That's never stopped him before."

Sofia pauses. "Well, this time it's different. He wants you to come visit before he enlists."

It's a strange feeling, he decides, to think of going home after half a year abroad. Ever since departing Incheon for Frankfurt last September, he hasn't been back. "I see."

"Are you going to come?"

Vernon considers it for a moment. "I haven't really been good at keeping in touch," he admits quietly. The only reason he hadn't fallen completely off the grid was due to Seungkwan's ever constant, nagging Kakao messages every few weeks—urging him to eat properly, demanding pictures—and occasional texts from Joshua.

"You know they don't mind," Sofia insists, and then switches to Korean. "They know how you are."

He doesn't respond, trying to wrap his mind around the idea of going back to Seoul, where he will leave behind the anonymity of Vienna, the quiet solitude he'd become all too accustomed to, and return to being constantly thrust into the spotlight.

"Oppa," Sofia says softly, her voice bright and clear like bells, "come home."

He sees Seungkwan first from across the street, getting out of his cab while rubbing his hands together.

It takes Seungkwan a little while to notice him, but Vernon is content to stand there with his hands in his pockets, a smile tugging up at the corners of his mouth while Seungkwan fusses with his change.

"Don't you drive now?" Vernon asks, and a grin splits his face when Seungkwan whirls around, startled. "You still insist on taking a taxi everywhere."

Seungkwan clutches his heart. "Aish, Chwe Vernon, you _scared_ me—can you say something next time?"

Vernon laughs. Seungkwan's face is flushed from the slight chill in the air. "I did say something," he says, amused. "You just startle easily."

Seungkwan's only response is an affronted huff, and Vernon good-naturedly lets Seungkwan drag him inside the restaurant.

The private room Seungkwan had booked is upstairs away from prying eyes. Soonyoung, Joshua, Chan, and Seokmin are already sitting down, turning to the door when they come in.

"Vernon-ah!" Soonyoung calls happily from the end of the table. "Good to see you!"

Vernon gives him a wide grin, going over to him to grip him firmly by the shoulders. "Hi hyung," he says. "How're you feeling? Ready to go?"

Soonyoung gives him a sour look. "No talk of enlisting at the table. We're here to celebrate our 10th year anniversary."

Vernon laughs, clapping him on the shoulder. "Fair enough."

He takes his time greeting everyone who had been able to make it. Although the room looks full with six of them, the lack of the others is something he can feel acutely, like a phantom limb that had been severed.

Soonyoung looks up from his phone and notices Vernon glancing around. "Myungho and Joonhwi are coming," he announces.

Vernon locks eyes with Seungkwan from across the table, and ducks his head so that Seungkwan won't see the smile spreading across his face.

Five minutes later, footsteps outside their door cause them all to turn, and Vernon looks up to see Minghao and Junhui enter, Minghao already shucking his coat. He has his car keys in hand, waving them around as he ushers Junhui into a chair with the other arm. His hair is shorter now, and dyed a deep wine, but apart from that Minghao looks entirely the same. Vernon meets his gaze for a moment, and the mildly agitated expression on Minghao's face melts away into a smile. Vernon hadn't been explicitly saving a seat for him, but Minghao drops into the chair next to him all the same.

"Vernon-ah," Minghao says, and grasps his shoulder tightly. His fingers are laden with rings—all expensive, no doubt.

Vernon tugs him in for a hug instead. Minghao is still bony. "Good to see you, hyung."

Minghao wrinkles his nose at him in mild disapproval. "You are _so_ bad at keeping in touch, you know? You're even worse than Mingyu—and you _have_ your phone."

Vernon feels an apologetic grin spread across his face. The last time he'd spoken to Minghao had been in November, when Vernon had called him to wish him happy birthday. Minghao had already been back in China then, and Vernon still in Valencia. He remembers that phone call in minute detail, the quick words they'd exchanged before Minghao begged off to go to bed. It seems like a lifetime since then. "Sorry," he says. "It's just nice to be off the grid."

Minghao purses his lips, and takes the glass of beer that Seungkwan passes him. "You've always—" he pauses, and then shakes his head. "Never mind."

Vernon doesn't press him, instead watching as Junhui brings out his phone to show Chan and Seokmin a clip from the set of his latest movie, and takes in the atmosphere for a while.

"So Mingyu-hyung's been contacting you?" Vernon turns to Minghao, who raises an eyebrow at him.

"Yes," he says. "When he can, I mean."

Vernon nods slowly. "Do you miss him?"

Minghao snorts. "Of course," he says, and then shifts in his seat. "I've missed you, too."

For a moment, the pause that passes between them is swollen and poignant, and Vernon savors the silence. This is something he'd missed, too. The same comfort that Minghao shared for the quiet, the distinct lack of needing to fill the gaps with meaningless chatter. They could go for hours like this, spending time in each other's company without saying a single word. In fact, they had. Many times before.

"I missed you too," Vernon tells him finally. "I'll stay in better touch."

This seems to please Minghao, who leans back in his chair with a satisfied nod.

"Congratulations, by the way."

Vernon turns to look at him. "For what?"

Minghao wraps his fingers around his glass, his many rings making little taps against the glass. "Sofia. Her group just won, right?"

"Ah, yes." Vernon stabs a piece of sweet potato with his chopsticks. "Thank you, I'll tell her."

Minghao makes a humming noise in his throat, not quite looking at him. "You helped compose part of their album, though, didn't you?"

"Oh," Vernon says, and his face flushes with a giddy warmth. "Yeah, I wrote one of their b-sides."

"Impressive."

Vernon can't help but snort. "You're usually hard to impress."

Minghao gives him back a secretive, knowing smile. "Are you trying to impress me?"

Vernon considers it for a moment. "If I'd been trying to impress you, I'd have asked Seungkwan to change the restaurant," he says honestly.

Minghao lets out a short laugh. "Good to know."

Towards the end of the evening, Minghao excuses himself from the room, Chan quickly getting up to follow. Vernon doesn't pay much mind to it and lets his thoughts wander, head nodding absently to the muted music coming from downstairs.

Joshua comes to take Minghao's empty seat. His hair has grown out long, tied up at the back of his head. "How was Austria?"

Vernon grins. "Quiet," he says. "You can hear yourself think."

Joshua laughs. "Did you do a lot of thinking while you were there, then?" His eyes look tired, and Vernon thinks about Seungcheol and Jeonghan enlisting at the same time. There's about 10 months left before they come home, and Vernon can't quite help but think that Joshua looks like he's missing some part of himself.

Vernon glances to the table, where Minghao's left his phone by his water, and back up at Joshua, who is watching him closely. "Yeah," he says. "Yeah, I did." 

A short while later, Joshua returns to his seat at the same time that Chan and Minghao edge back into the room carrying a cake. Soonyoung hollers in delight until they set it down in front of him.

"Happy early birthday," Minghao announces, bringing out an expensive-looking lighter with a flourish.

"And Joonhwi-hyung, too," Chan adds.

Soonyoung bursts into tears when they all sing him and Junhui happy birthday, and Seokmin unsurprisingly follows suit. Minghao laughs and puts himself on double duty, alternating between fussing over Seokmin and swiping whipped cream on Junhui's cheeks. Vernon has to bite back a snort when Junhui swipes back at him, a great glob of it ending up on Minghao's face.

"Stylish," Vernon says, when Minghao comes back to retrieve his phone. Minghao's mouth curls up into a smile.

"Shut up," he says, but there's no bite behind it.

Vernon nods over at where Junhui is delicately painting designs onto Soonyoung's face with frosting, his own cheeks adorned with cat-whiskers. "Was this your idea?"

Minghao's smile widens, and a rush of warmth unfurls deep into Vernon's belly. "Maybe," he says. "Maybe not."

"Happy anniversary," Soonyoung blubbers from his end of the table, his face red and blotchy and smeared with cake. "I'm going to miss you guys so fucking much—"

Chan pats his back soothingly. "We'll miss you too, hyung."

Seungkwan gives them a look from down the table. "To Soonyoung-hyung and Joonhwi-hyung," he says, raising his glass up. "And to us. Happy 10th anniversary. Here's to ten more years."

Seokmin starts to cry again, and they all laugh, pelting him with napkins as they toast to the ten years that have knit them together so impossibly close. Even with the others gone, this is something that Vernon knows he'll always be able to come back to, a place that will always feel like home.

Minghao sits back down again, watching the ruckus at the end of the table with a fond, endeared smile, before turning back to Vernon.

"Happy anniversary," he says quietly, and Vernon clinks his glass with him.

"Ten years is a long time," Vernon says.

"It is," Minghao agrees. "But it's been worth it."

Vernon knows what he means. Even if it meant trading in his normlacy, Vernon knows that he'd do it all again, if he had to. The ten years that they've been together, the years even before, the time that's brought him the best friends he could have asked for, the people he will cherish for the rest of his life.

Vernon feels Minghao's eyes on him, and looks up to meet his gaze.

Minghao smiles at him. "What are you thinking, Vernon-ah?"

"I'm thinking," he says, his heart so impossibly full, "that it's time to come home."

**Author's Note:**

> i was so nervous posting this, ahh. this is my first time writing svt, so i hope i did them justice!
> 
> please do leave a comment if you enjoyed ♡ 
> 
> [twt](http://twitter.com/plosionlateral) | [cc](http://curiouscat.me/wayschanged)


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